Jordanian PA Arabs Join Nakba Protests

Jordan's PA Arabs participated Friday in “Nakba” protests at a rally organized by the Muslim Brotherhood.

By Chana Ya'ar

First Publish: 5/15/2011, 12:29 PM / Last Update: 5/15/2011, 12:37 PM

Israel news photo

Jordanian Arabs loyal to the Palestinian Authority participated Friday in a “Nakba Day” to mark the “catastrophe” of the 1948 re-establishment of the State of Israel.

Organized by the Jordanian branch of the worldwide Muslim Brotherhood, the rally was held close to the border with Israel.

Approximately 6,000 protesters were bused to the area from PA Arab communities across Jordan – still referred to by international media as “refugee camps."

They gathered at the site of a major battle in the 1967 Six-Day War during which Jordanian occupiers were driven out of Israel. In that war, Judea, Samaria and the occupied areas of Jerusalem, the Jewish capital, were restored to Israel.

Jordan is home to some 1.8 million PA Arabs, some of whom are the descendants of those who fled Israel in the 1948 War of Independence and after the 1967 war and many who lived there beforehand. Palestinian Arabs make up the bulk of Jordan's population and the Hashemites are a minority.